Absolve me, pater, quia peccavi
by LumCheng
Summary: Dante x Nero AU, MA - When young Brother Nero is ordered to deliver information to Inquisitor Dante, he is shocked by the other man's actions and behaviour. And soon he finds out the reason behind Dante's cruel mortification...


**Absolve me, pater, quia peccavi**

Author: LumCheng (april'13)  
Beta: none  
Part: 1/2  
Fandom: Devil May Cry 4  
Disclaimer: Dante and Nero belong to Capcom.  
Pairing: Dante/Nero  
Rating: MA  
Warnings: yaoi, lemon, non-con, AU, drama, religion  
Summary: When young Brother Nero is ordered to deliver information to Inquisitor Dante, he is shocked by the other man's actions and behaviour. And soon he finds out the reason behind Dante's cruel mortification...  
Note: This is set in an alternative universe during the middle ages, in Italy. I did a little research about all the church stuff during that time, but I dun guarantee accuray.  
Contact: batdriven gmail. com

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In an almost shy manner, Nero carefully lifted a corner of his hood and peeked to his right, making sure noone was following him.

He was alone on the cold, stone built corridor. The flickering lights from the torches created dancing shadows on the walls - his only companions and witnesses in this moment.

And God, of course. God was always there, saw everything, judged everything.

Nero knew, that what he was doing, was a sin. But he couldn't resist. He had the feeling he was starving. Especially during Lenten season. Fasting was never his strong point. There was this constant hunger, a grumbling in his stomach. And the guilt.

The guilt was eating him alive.

Every night he begged for forgiveness, that absolution was granted to him.

He was very well aware, that there was even more he could do. Mortification was a common practice amongst them. But he was never one to chasten himself. Even if he believed in God. He didn't believe, that God wanted them to hurt themselves physically just because they felt guilty.

Needless to say, these were thoughts he could never entrust somebody with. He suffered alone and he suffered in silence. No other human needed to know.

The right hand pressed on his empty, aching stomach, Nero finally continued his short journey to the kitchen.

The church bells had stroked for the 9th hour not long ago, thus he was sure, most of his brothers went to bed already, to unite with God in their silent prayers.

But he just _knew_, he wouldn't be able to sleep on an empty stomach.

Walking through the hollow corridors, turning left two times, right one time, he was almost there, when suddenly-

"Brother Nero!"

He froze in his movements and his heart skipped a beat, when the sharp voice of Brother Benedictus cut the air like a knife.

How did the elder monk even knew that it was him, when he had his hood pulled down deep in his face?

Slowly he turned around and drew back the black hood, revealing his face and his snowwhite hair.

"Brother Benedictus", he said, "Dominus vobiscum."

He swallowed silently and hoped the other man wouldn't ask him about what he was doing here so lately.

Fortunately Benedictus didn't seem to have been looking for Nero in particular.

"Dominus vobiscum", he repeated and nodded slightly, before coming a step closer, apparently being in a rush. "Quick, Brother, your feet are young and your legs are still strong. You have to inform the Inquisitor about the latest incidents regarding the heretics he had been interrogating since last friday."

And while the elder brother filled him in on the information, Nero nodded and took mental notes, contemporaneously thanking the Lord for saving him from sinning. For now. He already knew he'd sneak into the kitchen, as soon as there was a chance again.

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With quick steps, he rushed up the stairs in the big front tower, where Inquisitor Dante of Verona was accomodated during his stay in their monastery.

He wasn't even half the way up, when he could already hear it.

Whippings. Sharp noises of leather striking bare skin, followed by suppressed gasping.

Nero went slower, brows furrowed.

Now he was also able to understand the constant mumbling, which accompanied the mortification.

"Confíteor Deo omnipoténti et vobis, fratres, quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ídeo precor beátam..."

When Nero was standing right in front of the heavy, wooden door, he hesitated. But with each lash dashing through the air, he flinched visibly and in the end, he couldn't bare it anymore and knocked on said door, interrupting the labor in the room in front of him.

It was silent for maybe 5 seconds, then he could hear a strong, authoritarian voice.

"Enter!"

With a deep breath, Nero turned the handle and pushed open the creaking door.

What welcomed him, was a scene straight from one of his most abhored daydreams.

The room was lit with dozens of candles, and a man was sitting right in front of the fireplace, on a small stool, a whip next to him on the ground, the white cowl bloodstained on his back. The longer Nero stared, the more stains appeared, soaking the fabric with blood.

He was so occupied with just staring, that only a loud coughing, coming from the older man, reminded him of his good manners and his reason why he was here in the first place.

Looking up into his face, Nero swallowed and tensed.

The Inquisitor had white hair, just like himself. And he looked young. Way too young for a man holding such a position for a good ten years now.

"Inquisitor", Nero finally said, "the heretics... they have confessed and are now awaiting the judgement."

Dante got up and straightened his habit, redoing the knot in the front.

"What is your name?", he asked and turned around, facing Nero. "Come here, so I can see you."

Hesitantly, Nero closed the door behind him and took a few cautious steps into Dante's direction, before the other one grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him to the fireplace with a quick motion.

"My name is Nero."

His voice was low, for he was a little taken aback by Dante's rough behaviour.

"Nero?", he repeated. "Nero who?"

"Just Nero, Inquisitor. I'm an orphan, raised by the monastery."

He let go of his arm and nodded, while the younger one inconspicuously rubbed his arm where he could still feel the extremely strong grip from moments ago.

They started into each other's faces for a brief moment, before Dante turned away and walked to the desk, sifting through some paperwork.

He took a small can with sealing wax and poured some of it on a roll of parchment paper, then pressed one of his rings into the wax and rolled up the letter.

"Take this to Abate Costabile as quick as you can."

Dante handed Nero the scroll and watched him almost storming out of the room. When the young brother was about to close the door, he held him back one last time.

"Brother Nero?"

"Yes, Inquisitor?"

"I never want to see you up here again!"

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_~tbc~_

_Thanks for reading. Next part will contain all the juicy stuff, lol.  
Hopefully I can finish this soon, so I can attend to my other fics again :D  
(If you had troubles understanding the latin phrases I've used, lemmi know and I'll translate them for you. But I thought all these are pretty common, so I didn't provide a translation table here.)_

_Lum~_


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